Little Change In Public Attitudes Towards Clinton Impeachment

The American public's attitudes about the historic impeachment
process unfolding in Washington, evaluated by a series of Gallup
polls conducted this past week, can be summarized succinctly: He's
guilty, but don't impeach him.

Despite the wrangling in the Judiciary committee hearings on the
issue of whether or not Bill Clinton's actions were or were not
technically illegal, there is little doubt in the public's mind
that they were. Americans believe–in some instances
confirming what they have said in polls for many months–that
Clinton committed perjury, engaged in illegal acts, and misused and
abused his office.

As far back as April of this year, a clear majority of the
public said that Clinton had lied under oath. In September, 66%
said that he had committed perjury. In polling this week, well over
half of those polled agree that the allegations contained in three
out of the four draft articles of impeachment circulated by the
Judiciary Committee majority are true, and half believe that the
fourth–obstruction of justice–is true.

At the same time, it is clear that the majority of the public
does not think that these offenses rise to the level of being
impeachable. This too has been a consistent finding over the past
several months.

The public's basic attitudes about impeachment are stable and
straightforward: about a third of those interviewed have said in
response to questions asked about impeachment that they favor it.
About sixty percent or more have consistently said that they oppose
it. These responses are obtained in response to general questions
asking about "impeaching and removing Clinton from office," as well
as to very specific questions which differentiate between the
impeachment role of the House and the trial role of the Senate, and
to questions about the actions that should be taken by the House
Judiciary Committee.

Censure appears to be a preferred alternative. When asked this
week directly about censuring the president, 55% of Americans said
that they favor it. In response to a different question, about 61%
of Americans this past weekend said that they favor censure if an
impeachment measure is not passed.

The impeachment proceedings thus far have generated only
mid-range attention from the public. As of Thursday night of this
week, 56% of Americans said that they were following the
congressional impeachment proceedings very or somewhat closely.
This is significantly lower than the attention levels Gallup has
measured for other major news events, such as the death of Princess
Diana and the UPS strike.

The public does not think that Clinton will ultimately be
impeached. As of Tuesday night, only 37% of those polled said that
the House would vote to convict him and send the issue to the
Senate for trial.

Survey Methods
The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 550 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted November 20-22 1998. For results based on samples of this
size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error
attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or
minus 5 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.

How closely have you been following the congressional
impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton?

Very closely

Somewhat closely

Not too closely

Not at all

No opinion

Dec 10

20%

36

31

12

1

Dec 9

16%

38

29

17

*

Dec 8

19%

36

28

17

*

* Less than 0.5%

As you may know, the House Judiciary Committee is holding
hearings on whether to recommend impeachment of Bill Clinton to the
FULL House of Representatives. In your view, should the House
Judiciary Committee vote for or against impeachment?